Islam in America

This course surveys Muslim life and religious movements connected to Islam in North America, tracing the history of Islam on the continent from the Atlantic slave trade to the post-9/11 era. It investigates the many ways in which Islam, as both a religion and an idea, has appeared on the American horizon and in the American imagination. Through course exams, assignments, and papers, students are able to appreciate and reflect concretely in their writing on the cultural and socio-economic differences that have shaped American Muslim views on religion and identity. They do so by citing historic cases, autobiographical testimonies, and current observable practices. Through the briefs and presentations they produce, they also take part in a major semester-long group project in which issues of belonging and community are mapped out in real spaces.